The former president and America's first lady of home cooking are putting on a fund-raiser together, Pinkberry isn't as "all natural" as you'd like it to be, and a recipe for a season-appropriate dish served to Pope Benedict XVI last week.

Given our tragic view of the restaurant world — and in fact, “the sorry scheme of things entire,” as the Rubaiyat has it — we were only too ready to believe that the Moondance Diner’s move to the far west would end in ignominy and failure. (That’s certainly the way it looked the last time we saw it, broken down and caved in amid the desolate plains.) But it turns out we were wrong! According to AM New York, the diner has been rebuilt and renovated in LaBarge, Montana, right down to its iconic rotating moon sign, which will be reinforced against the fierce Montana winds. "We're hoping we can very much be a destination diner for the town and bring something new and exciting to LaBarge," the diner’s new owner, Cheryl Pierce, says. And what could be a nobler goal than that?
Owner: Moondance Diner on track to open in Wyoming [amNY]
Related: The Moondance Diner, Neglected in Wyoming, Now a Shell of Itself

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Now here’s a sad story. Recently, we ran a feel-good piece about the sunny destiny of the Moondance Diner, extinguished by the greed of developers but sent by big rig to a sunny afterlife in the vastness of the West. Well, it would have been better for all concerned if we left it at that. But we’re in the news business, and though it pains us to report it, the place hasn’t come to a good end.

The State Liquor Authority is set to yank the liquor licenses from the Ciprianis, thanks to their felony tax-evasion conviction. Is this the end of their N.Y. operations? [NYP]
Joey Campanero of little owl fame is planning on opening his new restaurant, Market Table, sometime in September. [Strong Buzz]
The Moondance Diner has left the building. [Newsday]
Related: Go West, Old Diner

The good people of La Barge, Wyoming, know a great diner when they see one: Moondance Diner, having been banished from Manhattan by greedy land barons, has found a home in Big Sky territory, where it will serve up wholesome food to good folk. That’s the beauty of a freestanding diner, of which Moondance was the last in Manhattan: You can just lift it up and tow it to wherever you like. La Barge doesn’t just want the diner for its nostalgia value: The closest restaurant is a Mexican joint twenty miles to the north. A town made up of 500 residents, one full-time policeman, and what was once the most picturesque diner in New York? We’re making vacation plans.
To Find This New York Diner, Head to Wyoming [NYS]
Earlier: Well, It's a Marvelous Night for Luxury Condos [Daily Intel]

Brooklyn Heights: Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries is open, staffed with “lovely ladies” and other employees responsible for an especially pleasant experience. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Fort Greene: Coffee plus muffins from Choice are available at new café Bidonville on Willoughby near Adelphi. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: The Bowery Hotel's Italian restaurant Gemma opened Friday night and, though similar, is “800 times classier“ than Morandi inside. [Eater]
Soho: Moondance Diner has closed to make way for condos, but rather than be demolished, the building will travel to Pennsylvania and become an exhibit. [NY1]
Park Slope: Revered pizza haven franny’s has started serving pasta; recent specials have been dappled with house-made sausages and zucchini and herbs. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Tribeca: The Department of Health has tagged Gigino’s on Greenwich Street, though the Wagner Park location remains open. [Grub Street]

Well-heeled fans of the soon-to-be-closed Moondance Diner consider jacking the place up and moving it somewhere else. [NYT]
Related: Well, It's a Marvelous Night for Luxury Condos [Daily Intel]
Rachael Ray seizes control of her own E! True Hollywood Story. [Buffalo News]
The only difference between the Rao’s in New York and the Rao’s in Las Vegas: The latter has a terrace overlooking the Caesar’s Palace hotel pool. And you can actually eat at the Vegas location. [NYS]

Chelsea: Cain will settle on 17th Street at Ninth Avenue. [Down by the Hipster]
Dumbo: Bubby's owner has fired the chef at his Brooklyn outlet and plans to take over the kitchen himself, all in response to blogger dissatisfaction. [Brooklyn Record]
East Village: Avenue B sporting a new awning for Solo Pizza, details not yet known. [Slice]
Long Island City: Court Square wine shop now open, and a café is coming to Vernon at 50th Street, both welcomed gentrification. [LIC NYC]
Midtown East: Chikubu closed; owners back in Japan. [Eater]
Nolita: Bopping back from the burn ward sooner than expected, BondSt will be up and running this coming Monday, we're told. It’s just in time for the ten-year birthday the sushi restaurant has been planning for the end of the month. [Grub Street]
Prospect Heights: Deli Cup guy beaten so badly last week by customers upset over a lottery loss that his teeth were falling out. Good news: Not only may police have suspects, but Cup is still selling beer. [Daily Heights]
Soho: New York's oldest diner, Moondance, facing wrecking ball in May, despite pleas for preservation. [Eater]
Upper East Side: The prize for winning Tuesday Trivia night at the Gael Pub is a $50 bar tab, but you have stay all night to finish the game. [The Upper East Side Scene]